by Alex De Kok
I wanted to thank you for the pointers here. After reading your article I have been able to get my stuff to look basically how I wanted. The formating is especially handy for poetry. Thanks.
jim : )
I bet you had fun getting the <B>'s and <I>'s to print in HTML. Thanks for the info. Now I can fix what I want fixed without feeling like I'm imposing on Laurel.
I know HTML, but it never occurred to me to submit in this way. If it'll help Laurel AND get my work published faster, I'm happy to do it!
Cheers, Alex, for a straightforward and helpful explanation.
Bold and italic tags are good - for the 99% of readers who use a graphic browser. However, that odd 1% have problems with eyesight or technology (actually I've no idea what the real figure is, it may be very different from 1%). They use 'text-only' browsers, (plus text-to-speech software). The thing is that a number of such browsers just can't handle bold and italic as such. Accordingly, it is better to use the <strong> and <em> tags. <strong> gets rendered as bold by graphic browsers and <em> ('emphasis') gets rendered as italic, but the text-only ones WILL give some sort of mod (maybe with colour) to make the relevant bit of text stand out.
"Walk the extra mile" to cater for the minority; the majority won't suffer!
Bold and italic tags are good - for the 99% of readers who use a graphic browser. However, that odd 1% have problems with eyesight or technology (actually I've no idea what the real figure is, it may be very different from 1%). They use 'text-only' browsers, (plus text-to-speech software). The thing is that a number of such browsers just can't handle bold and italic as such. Accordingly, it is better to use the <strong> and <em> tags. <strong> gets rendered as bold by graphic browsers and <em> ('emphasis') gets rendered as italic, but the text-only ones WILL give some sort of mod (maybe with colour) to make the relevant bit of text stand out.
"Walk the extra mile" to cater for the minority; the majority won't suffer!
Thank you Alex for taking the time to explain HTML. Sometime back you walked me through the process and it has made such a difference in the way I submit stories. Now, thanks to your article, it's available to everyone. Top Notch!
Really helpful. I was having trouble submitting my story but after using this method had no problems at all. You're an absolute Godsend. Thank you. xxx
For the past few months I have been an avid reader of Lit. As of late, I've been trying to build the courage to submit my work. However it can be a daunting task trying to decipher all the jargon and red tape that is thrown your way. Thank you for clearing up several questions that I felt literally too scared to ask.
I never knew that it was acceptable to submit stories as text blocks, with the <B> and <I> tags already included! This is gonna make future submissions so much simpler! Thank you!
read them, and anything to make the stories available faster and in the format the author prefers, gets my vote. I also think it is a really good person, thinking about others, that offers suggestions for his competition to aid their submittals. That easily rates a "5" and my thanks!
One question: Will that procedure work for me offering comments? Any suggestions on how to insert a bold or italic?
I favourited this so I can find it easily.
If I ever get round to writing again.
I finally got around to searching for help on html tags and found your advice. I have just used them tio edit a recent story and they all worked (at least on preview).
Thanks again.
oggbashan
Thanks for the useful, factual, and uncontroversial advice! I was wondering how to do that (bolds and italics) and have often used other character surrounding desired words just to "set them apart" from the rest of the text. I'll try to remember to use HTML. (Not that HTML is new to me, I just never knew using it here would work. Maybe I should have read the directions! :P )
Or a simple, easy to understand explanation. However you choose to see it, it was clear and concise. Well done.
Is this still relevant? I have lots of italicized text in my stories and they usually get published in 3-4 days from submission, would it happen faster if I followed this method?
I was trying to use the HTML center symbols, and my story was getting rejected because I had the bold and center symbols in the wrong order.
Again, thank you for taking the time to share.
Sincerely Hubby77
Can we use <h?> tags? And if so, what number should we start with to avoid conflicts with the surrounding page headings?